Sen. Merkley Joins Wide-Ranging Coalition in Saying There is No Place for a White Supremacist, Anti-Semitic Misogynist in the White House

Dec. 8, 2016

WASHINGTON, DC -- Earlier today, a coalition of progressive organizations delivered more than 1 million petition signatures to members of Congress on Capitol Hill urging them to oppose and denounce President-elect Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon to be chief White House strategist and senior counsel.

Senator Jeff Merkley, who led a Senate letter calling on Trump to rescind Bannon’s appointment and stand up against the wave of hate crimes sweeping the nation joined members of the coalition this morning at the petition delivery on Capitol Hill.

“When Trump appointed Stephen Bannon as his chief strategist, Bannon and Trump together solidified a white supremacist agenda at the highest levels of America's government. Stephen Bannon is the man that stated: ‘birth control makes women unattractive and crazy.’ Bannon is who David Duke, a leader of the Ku Klux Klan, thinks is an excellent choice, and now he’s primed to lead the white nationalist movement right through the front doors of the White House. The stakes have never been higher. We have so much work to do, and we need to be powerful enough to organize and refuse to support Trump’s regime and its heinous agenda," explained Presente Action's Executive Director, Matt Nelson.

“President-elect Trump and his allies have mounted an assault on our most fundamental values as Jews and as Americans, including justice, equality and respect for all people,” said Rabbi Jason Kimelman-Block, Director of Bend the Arc Jewish Action. “Trump has invited promoters of white nationalist and anti-Semitic views and rhetoric, like Steve Bannon, into his inner circle, unacceptable behavior from anyone seeking to unite and lead our country. There is no place for such hate in the White House, and we urge Trump to rescind his hire of Bannon immediately.”

“Stephen Bannon is a white supremacist, an anti-semite, a misogynist and domestic abuser—but Donald Trump just made him one of the most influential people inside the White House.” added Shaunna Thomas, co-founder of UltraViolet Action. “When our elected officials fail to speak out - or take action by blocking Trump’s cabinet appointments—they are endorsing this behavior, and that’s unacceptable. Whether you support Trump or don’t, we can all agree that someone with Bannon’s background does not belong in the White House.”

"Trump's appointment of Bannon has white supremacist groups celebrating because it confirms he intends to follow through on his hateful, xenophobic, racist, misogynist, campaign rhetoric," explained Kate Kizer, campaigner at Demand Progress. "The silence of Republican leadership on this appointment is disgraceful. Congress must make clear that hate has no place in the White House by rejecting Bannon's appointment unequivocally."

"Not only has Bannon created a platform for hate, he has also legitimized and amplified falsehoods about climate change that endanger present and future generations of Americans. Keeping him out of the White House is a matter of basic moral responsibility," explained Brant Olson, executive director of ClimateTruth.org.

"Steve Bannon, his toxic misogyny, and his white-nationalist worldview have no place in the White House, advising the person who claims he wants to be a leader for all Americans,” added Ilyse Hogue, President of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “By speaking out against Bannon’s appointment as a chief counselor to President-elect Trump, people across the nation are standing up for American values and the vulnerable communities that stand to lose the most under a regime of bigotry and extreme misogyny. It's clear that as long as he's in the White House, the most basic reproductive rights and human rights are on the line."

"There’s a reason Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon thrilled the American Nazi Party, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, and other white supremacists: they want Trump to carry out his threats to divide and target Americans based on race and religion,” said Ben Wikler, MoveOn.org’s Washington Director. “By installing Bannon as his chief strategist, Trump signals that he’s making bigotry his chief strategy. Silence in the face of hate is complicity. Progressives stand united in holding to account elected officials from either party who enable Bannon—and supporting those with the moral courage to speak out and fight back."

“Our diversity is what makes our nation strong and prosperous. The fact that the people in our country, who come from all walks of life and tapestries of backgrounds, are free to live, love and worship as they will, is enshrined in our Constitution—and is why America has long prospered,” added Gloria Pan, National Campaign Director at MomsRising.org. “Bannon’s role in the Trump White House poses a clear and present danger to millions of Americans and to our economy, and we will not stand for it.”

"Stephen Bannon and his movement have used hateful lies to target to some of our nation's most vulnerable communities. American Jews understand what it means to be singled out like this—and we refuse to accept or normalize it," said Dylan Williams, vice president of government affairs at J Street. "We're going to stand up for equality, liberty and diversity, and fight tooth and nail to oppose bigotry in the White House. I hope elected officials of both parties will do everything they can to aid in this fight to protect the values we hold dear."

“It’s unacceptable that the Trump administration has handed one the most influential posts in the White House to a peddler of hatred and misinformation,” said Free Press Policy Counsel Gaurav Laroia. “Bannon has had a toxic and destructive influence on political discourse. He seeks to tear down our inclusive and democratic institutions and will stop at nothing—including inciting the most bigoted and violent among us—to get what he wants. More and more Americans are speaking out to reject hatred and prevent Washington from normalizing racists like Bannon. We will not be silenced.”

Additional organizations opposing Bannon’s appointment to chief White House strategist and senior council include: 18MillionRising.org, African American Ministers In Action, Anti-Defamation League, Arab American Institute, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Council on American-Islamic Relations, Courage Campaign, CREDO, Demand Progress, Detention Watch Network, El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Friends of the Earth, Immigrant Defense Project, Immigration Center for Women and Children, Indiana Center for Middle East Peace, Israel/Palestine Mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), League of United Latin American Citizens, Main Street Alliance, Muslim Public Affairs Council, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, National Black Justice Coalition, National Center for Lesbian Rights, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Immigration Law Center, National Network for Arab American Communities, New York Immigration Coalition, Next-Gen Climate, Partnership for Working Families, People for the American Way, PICO National Network, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Resource Generation, Rootstrikers, Sierra Club, Showing Up for Racial Justice, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, SumOfUs, Unitarian Universalist Association.

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